Writing & Grammar: Business Jargon

by Jennie Ruby 

How much current business jargon do you know and use on a daily basis? And why?

Long ago I survived what I called the "impact" wars of the late 80s and early 90s. I was a technical editor with degrees in languages and literature, and as such I was, and was expected to be, a stickler for strict rules of grammar. At about that time, the business world all at once started using the word "impact" as a verb. Some blamed Peter Drucker, whose first book on management had just come out. Others had no clue where the jargon came from. 

 

But all of a sudden, things could impact things, rather than having an impact on them. And things, in turn, could be impacted--double the insult to the sensibilities of a grammar stickler. Passive voice AND using a noun as a verb!

 

Our editorial supervisors had us hold the line: we changed impact as a verb to affect or influence or damage, or have an impact on. But our authors fought back, resisting the change. It was as if they were saying, "Oh come on! All the kids are doing it!"

 

And it was true.

 

All of the kids were doing it. And that is one of the ways language works. That is how language grows and changes. Someone comes up with a new word, a new phrase, or a new way of using an old word, and it somehow works. It serves a purpose in a concise or pithy way.

 

Or maybe it is just that the person who used it is influential. I still remember when our entire middle school class started saying "tough beans," and we split down the middle on which of the cool, popular, athletic boys had started it. 

 

So the boss started saying things like this:

 

How will this impact our bottom line?

In what way will our overseas operations be impacted?

 

And all of the nabobs and sycophants started echoing it. Thousands of voices in editorial/communications departments suddenly cried out in terror and then were stilled. And a new usage was born.

 

Impact as a verb is, of course, now accepted by many style guides and listed in most dictionaries.

 

What current business jargon are you reading and hearing these days? Just in the last couple of weeks I have seen and heard these:

 

"in the space"

"work product"

"job aide"

 

One person seemed so eager to sound businessy and up-to-the-minute that she used "in the space" twice in one sentence! And the truth is, to some extent, using the most up-to-date jargon does send a message that the speaker/writer is familiar with the latest information on a topic.

 

But there is also a legitimate meaning for a phrase like "in the space." It succinctly encompasses the businesses, clients, vendors, audiences, books, websites, practitioners, and locations that have to do with a business topic-such as training. We all work "in the training space."

 

If you have been seeing, hearing, reading, or using new training or business or marketing jargon, please share! Along with your opinions on jargon, of course.

 

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